A/N: Hello everybody! It's been a couple of weeks. Sorry about that. I had this chapter written out over a week ago, but realized I needed to completely revamp a couple of scenes. ^^;

Big shoutout of thanks to my friends over on the LU Discord! You guys are amazing!! This chapter we delve into Hyrule's view of things. :3 Hope you're ready! This one's a tad long.

~~~

Hyrule hit the ground hard. He groaned as he did his best to keep their delicious dinner of steak in his stomach where it belonged. Somehow, he didn't think it'd taste as good coming back up.

Similar groans from the others filled the air around him as Wind bounced back up on his feet without missing a beat. For some reason, the sailor was never really affected by the portals.

"Come on! It's just like a ship! I don't get why you're all so affected. See? Wild's fine!"

Sure enough, Wild was standing right next to Wind, a concerned look on his face. It was, unfortunately, not quite dark out. It looked like dawn was breaking, which meant they'd spend the day traveling rather than resting. He huffed as he finally felt able to sit up.

"Is it really that bad?" Wild asked, offering Hyrule a hand up.

"Sometimes it's worse than others. The sudden ones are always the worst." He admitted as he staggered to his feet before heading over to help Four, who always took portals the nastiest. Sometimes Four was so bad off that he was unconscious for a few hours. None of them really knew why, he always just said it was a side effect from his journey. Hyrule had no idea if he was cursed or what, but Four refused to elaborate further. Luckily, it looked like a mild disorientation this time, as he was already shakily sitting up.

"Anyone recognize where we are?" Time asked as everyone took stock of their surroundings. They were in a forest somewhere, and while Hyrule didn't see anything that could resemble an identifiable landmark, he instantly knew it was not his Hyrule because the trees were green and very much alive. And while the group had only been to his Hyrule briefly once to pick him up, they'd thankfully kept quiet about it since.

Quite a few eyes went to Wild when he grabbed his slate. "Nope. My Sheikah Slate doesn't have a signal for the map, so this isn't my Hyrule. Besides... the forest doesn't feel like mine."

"You mean the magic is different?" Hyrule asked. Could this Link use magic, too?

"Magic?" Wild tilted his head.

"You... you don't have magic in your Hyrule?" He felt like he'd been punched in the gut. Magic was such an intricate part of who he was—who many of them were. The fact that Wild didn't seem to know of it made his heart hurt—though it was entirely possible that he was unaware of it due to his amnesia.

"No, we have magic. It's just... more subtle, I guess? We've got dragons, too."

"You have dragons?" Legend eyed him warily.

"They won't hurt anybody. If anything, they're more like spirits." Wild smiled wistfully. "They're beautiful."

"At any rate, I'm pretty sure this is my Hyrule." Four spoke up, finally recovering enough to stand. Hyrule steadied him. "The magic here is familiar."

"Ah. Then lead the way." Twilight grinned.

"Since this is Wild's first time here, I'll go over the basics. The enemies are about what you'd find anywhere—Wizzrobes, Moblins, Stalfos... and right now my Hyrule is pretty peaceful. We should be fairly safe in this area—this looks like the woods near my house, if a bit far in. We can reach my forge with daylight to spare."

"That's a relief." Legend sighed as he cracked his back with a wince. "I'm sick of walking around Twilight's gigantic Hyrule."

"Hey!" Twilight sent him a mild glare.

Hyrule and the others started following Four as he led the way. He fell into a conversation with Wild. While they hadn't had the chance to speak much before, one thing became glaringly obvious within days of Wild joining the group—they were cut from the same cloth. The two were explorers and adventurers at heart. Wild often snuck away from the group to explore, and Hyrule was quick to sneak along. The two were quickly becoming known as the Trouble Duo.

Time had taken to keeping an eye on them both since that one incident a couple weeks ago where they may have accidentally set fire to Hyrule Field. In their defense, that fire sword of Wild's was really cool! And they needed an updraft to see if Wild's paraglider could hold the two of them.

It could. And Hyrule couldn't wait to explore even more places with Wild.

"So how long have you been exploring?" He asked the cook, eager to learn more about his kindred spirit. The sun was now fully in the sky, and the dappled shade of the forest around them was quickly becoming a welcome break from the heat that was already starting to saturate the world.

"For as long as I can remember. My Hyrule is vast and untamed, so there's a lot of places to explore and discover." Wild answered eagerly. "I'm honestly jealous of Twilight's Zora armor, though. Mine just lets me swim faster and climb waterfalls; his lets him breathe underwater. I can't imagine all the cool things I'd discover with that armor!"

Hyrule recalled the time Twilight had shown off the armor in his own Hyrule soon after Wild had joined them. "Maybe he'll let you borrow it?" He tilted his head. "Though you are a bit smaller than him."

"I mean... My Zora armor has... it's got a special meaning to me. It's personal. I may be a bit jealous of his, but I don't think I'd honestly have the heart to don any Zora armor other than mine." He smiled softly. It was tinged in sorrow, and a few of the others looked back in surprise at their normally cheerful companion.

"Really? I thought armor was just that." Hyrule continued softly.

"Zora armor in my Hyrule has... a bit of meaning behind it."

Hyrule understood the silent closure of the topic. Wild wasn't comfortable discussing it, so he'd let it drop.

There were several things he'd noticed about Wild over the last three weeks they'd been traveling together. Wild didn't like crowds—apparently his Hyrule wasn't as densely populated as theirs, which was odd considering the fact that he was set so far into their future. Wild also didn't like talking to travelers—he was fine talking to strangers in towns or on horseback. But, as they'd seen in Twilight's Hyrule briefly, if a lone traveler on foot was looking to start a conversation, Wild wanted nothing to do with it. In fact, Hyrule had noticed Wild's hand drifted towards his Slate on the one occasion they'd spoken to a lone traveler—ready to summon a weapon at a moment's notice.

He'd probably been attacked before. It made Hyrule sad, but he could understand. It only took one particularly nasty experience to ruin something for someone, even if that something was talking to fellow travelers on the road.

Another thing he'd noticed was that Wild wasn't used to traveling with other people. He was fairly sure the others had noticed, too. They'd all been fairly alone for their journeys, but most of them had had some kind of companionship. Fairies, Fi, even Twilight had once mentioned someone named Midna. Wild, on the other hand, had this air of loneliness that reminded Hyrule of himself. He wondered if he'd gone through his journey completely isolated.

Hyrule noticed Wild's ear twitch lightly as he picked up the sound of something. "You're hearing's pretty strong, isn't it? How well can you hear?"

Wild grinned at the topic change. "I mean, I seem to be able to hear better than you guys, but I spend a lot of my time away from towns, so maybe it's that?" He tilted his head in thought.

"Your ears twitch sometimes when you hear stuff. Can you control it?" Warriors jumped in. Wild grinned as one of his ears twitched forward while the other turned a little to aim behind him. It wasn't nearly anything animalistic, but it was more than the rest of them could do.

"Wow! That's so cool!" Wind grinned. "So you must be able to hear really, really well!!"

Wild flushed a bit at the attention. "I-I guess? I've never compared it with anyone else."

"It's possible that it's a Hylian trait that's developed over the centuries." Time added in.

"Can others in your Hyrule do that?" Warriors asked.

"I think so." Wild tilted his head as he thought.

"Hey, look! A lake!" Wind cried out suddenly, running ahead. They soon came upon a clearing in the forest with a small lake. The waters were clear and they could see the fish swimming around. The day had been rapidly getting warmer as they walked, and armor certainly didn't help that.

"I don't see why we can't stop for a quick dip." Four grinned, eyes flashing purple for a moment in the light. "Looks like we're hitting the hottest part of the day—travel isn't recommended around this time. We can sit and rest up for a few before heading back out."

Time mulled it over for a moment before nodding, much to the cheers and excitement of the younger members. Even Wild looked happy at the thought.

Of course, Wind was the first in. That kid loved water. Four contented himself to roll up his pants and kick his feet in the water. Hyrule shucked off his clothing and jumped right in. Man that water felt incredible! He stuck to the shallows, though. He was the kind of person who would sink like a rock in deeper water. He'd rather not drown today. He grinned at Legend, who—as usual—was insistent he remained dry and away from any kind of body of water.

"What, don't tell me you can't swim?" Wind whined, looking at Legend with a glare.

"Of course I can swim." He glared.

"Hey, Leg? Can you help me prepare some lunch?" Wild called out, and Hyrule didn't miss the flicker of relief on Legend's face at the excuse that Wild had readily thrown him.

"Yeah, I'm coming."

Hyrule wasn't sure if he was imagining things or not, but it looked like Wild had as much inclination to get into the water as Legend did. Either way, if they didn't want to swim, that wasn't any of his business.

Most of the others joined them in the lake. Sky, like Four, contented himself with dipping his feet in the water. His low stamina meant that he wasn't the best swimmer. Sure he could swim, but not for any true length of time. Plus, he seemed wary around water. He apparently had some not-so-great experiences with water during his journey. The one time someone asked about it, he mentioned Silent Trials and a creature called a guardian and refused to elaborate further.

Time happily joined them in the water, and Hyrule couldn't help but note how horrific some of his scars were. It made sense that the eldest among them would have some of the worst, but it was still a shock to see. He idly wondered if Legend had a few nasty scars and if that was the reason for his insistence on not swimming. If Time was the oldest, then Legend had the most experience. He'd had... what, four journeys? Something ridiculous like that. There was a reason why they called him the veteran.

"Who's hungry?" Wild called out, gesturing to their lunch. The others all shared a look. Some of them were starting to tire out and food sounded like a welcome break. Hyrule happily consumed the sandwiches as the rays of sunshine slowly dried the beads of water that clung to his skin. It was nice... to just bask in the sunlight and relax for a change. To, for once, simply be and not have to be a hero. The others seemed to have the same mindset because even Time looked reluctant to call everyone to order again.

"We should get moving before we lose more daylight." He finally spoke up. A few sighs were heard but nobody outright complained. The fact that they'd had several hours to rest up and unwind was a small miracle in and of itself. Time's journey must've been on a serious time crunch because he tended to get antsy if they rested for too long.

"All right!! Come on, then!!" Wind grinned as he ran several paces ahead before doubling back and repeating the action. Even after several hours of playing in the water, Wind still hadn't spent all his energy. Hyrule was a little jealous as he watched Wind run around the rocky edge of the lake, startling the fish with childish glee. He wished he had that kind of boundless energy.

As they followed the water's edge through the forest, a lighthearted atmosphere befell the group as several members teased each other. Warriors was playfully threatening to shove Legend into the water, and the vet moved as far as hylianly possible from the edge of the lake.

The path that they followed was well worn, but was slowly becoming more overgrown. The road had branched off earlier, and they'd stuck to the right. Was this a shortcut? The water to their right was starting to drop away as they traveled along a steady incline. The forest to their left had quickly risen up into an imposing jagged cliff that he wasn't sure anyone could climb without slicing their hands on the razor sharp shale.

The drop to the water was now at twenty feet at least, and the cliff's height must've been twice that. A loud roaring sound came from up ahead, and Hyrule was able to catch a glimpse of a waterfall around the bend. Their path led directly underneath it.

"Careful up here, it gets a bit narrow." Four warned them.

The path beneath the waterfall was wide enough for two people to cross shoulder-to-shoulder, but the ground was smooth and slick with the spray from the falls. The water below looked deep enough, but Hyrule also spied several large rocks jutting out of the water. If anyone fell, they could be seriously hurt or even killed. They'd have to be careful.

"Isn't there a better path?" Time raised an eyebrow, raising his voice a bit to be heard above the thundering falls.

"The Eastward path will be impossible to cross after the rainfall from yesterday—unless you want to sink to the bottom of a quicksand-like mud pit." Four replied, eyes seeming to flash blue for a brief moment before settling back on their usual grey. Hyrule shook his head, Four's eyes tended to change color depending on the light—he was mildly jealous. It looked cool.

"And we can't just backtrack and go up this cliff because...?" Legend crossed his arms, eyeing the sheer drop to the lake to their right.

"Because the only place that route leads to is a dungeon, and I figured that you'd rather watch your footing for a hot minute than go through that." Four shook his head.

"That's fair." Sky nodded. None of them liked dungeons. Hyrule noted the confused look on Wild's face and wondered if his dungeons were different from theirs. Did he even have dungeons?

"All right, then. In that case, we'll head this way." Time conceded. After all, they each knew their home Hyrules' dangers better than the others. If Four would rather face a deadly fall than this particular dungeon, then they'd face the deadly fall.

It was one thing to take a swim on a hot day, but falling twenty or more feet down a sheer cliff into water with armor on was asking for death. Not to mention the fact that the water looked deep and there didn't seem to be any good places to grapple to stay afloat. Beyond that, it looked like a strong current was whipping around those rocks, feeding into a nearby river.

Hyrule stepped carefully right behind Time, the group opting to go in single file for safety's sake. The stone flooring of the mini-cavern-like overhang was incredibly slick and smooth, and he stuck a bit closer to the cliff for support. Wild was right behind him.

He thought he was being careful, but apparently careful wasn't enough. His heart skipped several hard beats as his right foot slipped out from under him and his world tilted. A small yelp passed through his lips as he found himself tipping over the edge of the falls in what felt like slow motion. The garbled cries of the others were muffled in his abrupt panic as his mind conjured the image of the bottom of the falls.

Even a strong swimmer like Wind would have a hard time surviving a fall like that even if he missed the rocks. Someone like Hyrule, who was honestly hopeless in any form of water that went higher than his hips, would surely have no chance against a current like that. He was going to die.

The thought rang in his mind with a surety and clarity that he'd only experienced a handful of times on his journey. He was staring his own death in the face. His mind felt foggy and floaty, like it was trying to detach from his body to preserve some part of itself.

He was going to die.

It didn't feel real, yet it felt too real at the same time.

He belatedly realized his hand was stretched out towards the person closest to him—Time. The one-eyed hero had a look of panic on his face as he reached out towards Hyrule, but they were too far from one another.

Then, Hyrule felt a firm calloused hand wrap around his wrist and time sped up almost jarringly so. Sound became crisp and clear and it was nearly painful to experience. Suddenly, the detachment was gone as suddenly as it had appeared, and everything was just too much.

Hyrule slammed hard into the safety of the cliff as he felt Time's mildly shaking hands steady him, and it took him a brief moment to realize what had happened. Wild had saved him. But the momentum of pulling Hyrule up over that edge with such slippery footing had the younger hero hurtling towards the water instead.

"WILD!" Several people cried out.

Hyrule saw Wild's eyes for a moment—there was the unmistakable gleam of terror in them. Wind, who'd been right behind Wild, reached out to grab Wild's hand, but their fingers only scarcely brushed before Wild was too far away.

"Hell, no!" Then, out of nowhere and without an ounce of hesitation, Legend leapt off the face of the cliff after Wild; face set firmly into an expression of worried determination.

For a breathless moment, all anyone could do was stand there, wide-eyed, as they attempted to understand what happened. They couldn't hear the splash over the roar of the waterfall. As it was, Hyrule was surprised to hear his own heart thundering in his ears as he breathed heavily, leaning against Time for support as he guided him the rest of the way along the path that had nearly been his death.

The path that could very well have been Wild and Legend's death. He hastily swiped away the tears forming.

"T-the river... they'll be swept along the river. We can reach it this way." Four informed as they numbly regrouped on the other side. Wind looked to be kicking himself fiercely, staring at the hand that had brushed Wild's.

One thought lingered in Hyrule's mind. "You two'd better be okay."

~~~

It had happened so quickly that Legend hardly had time to process everything. There were very few people Legend would literally die for, and damn near every one of them was in this group he traveled with. So seeing Hyrule—his successor—falling to what Legend knew would be his death had already spurred him into action. But then, out of nowhere, Wild was exactly where Legend wanted to be.

The next thing his brain processed was that Hyrule was safe. But the outcry of the group had him registering an image that he knew would haunt his nightmares for a while. Wild, falling over the edge with an unmistakable look of terror painted on his scarred visage; and Wind, hand outstretched barely touching Wild's as a look of pure emotional agony marred the child's face.

Wild was falling to what was very likely his death. Wild who, like Legend, had seemed extremely uncomfortable with the idea of getting in the water. The same guy who had given Legend an out to swimming earlier that day. Who would quietly sit with Legend in the silent hours of the night and speak of nothing so Legend wouldn't feel so alone. Who would take nearly every sarcastic comment or prickly remark with a knowing smile.

Legend didn't like many people. But he liked Wild. Wild understood a part of him that the others never saw. And he would not let Wild die. Secrets be damned.

He didn't hesitate in jumping after him, ignoring the shocked screams that the others gave as he leapt from the cliff with all the strength of his legs. He slammed into Wild, knocking them both away from the deadly rocks at the base of the falls. Legend hissed as he hit the water, momentarily mistaking it for actually being a rock until he was suddenly floating in the deep waters of the lake.

Then he felt it.

A burning pain spiked in his legs as his lungs screamed for air. Legend twisted and thrashed in agony beneath the surface as his legs fused together—bones breaking, tendons snapping and muscles twisting together to form an entirely new piece of anatomy. It took him a moment to regain his coherency. He shook himself as his gills finally allowed him to breathe and kicked with his very sore tail to reach Wild who was struggling far too weakly.

He caught the unmistakable gleam of fear in his eyes and his heart clenched. It reminded him far too much of his own horrific experiences with shipwrecks and the like. Of the fear he felt when Koholint—

Legend mentally shook his head. He was not going to travel down that path today.

He hauled Wild to the surface, the whipping current doing little against his powerful tail. The other gasped and spluttered once his face hit the open air, and he clung to Legend like a frightened child. And honestly, Wild looked like a frightened child, and that didn't sit well with the veteran.

"Hang on, I'll get us somewhere calmer." Legend promised. Thankfully, Wild looked awake and mostly aware, so he was fairly sure he didn't have a concussion.

He had half a mind to backtrack to the edge of the lake where they'd had their morning swim, but he didn't want to go through that waterfall route all over again. So he'd brave the rapids. They shouldn't be too difficult with his mermish form, but it might frighten Wild.

"I... I'm okay." Wild whispered in his ear. It was a bit of a relief to hear him talk.

"Look, I think we're going to have to swim downriver. Think you can handle that?"

"I'm not sure if I'm that strong a swimmer."

"No, I'll handle the swimming." Legend shook his head. "But will you be okay?"

"I..." Wild blinked, noticing his tail for the first time. "What's that?"

Legend flushed. "A curse from my journey."

"It's so pretty." Wild smiled softly as Legend started moving them through the water.

"You sure you're okay? You panicked pretty badly." He did not want to acknowledge the curse right now.

"I..." Wild went red this time. "I don't like my head underwater. It reminds me of how my journey started."

Legend winced. Journeys were bad enough, but most didn't start out pretty. He recalled the start of his very first journey... his uncle had died. He doubted that Wild had an easier time of it, and judging by those scars the start wasn't the worst bit. He didn't pry. Even if he was curious.

He felt the water around him starting to tug more insistently. "Hold on, I think it's going to get a bit rough for a minute."

Wild clung tighter to him, trembling lightly. That fall must've really scared him. Legend felt a piece of his heart go out to his fellow hero. Damnit, he was getting attached.

He swam through the rapids, being as careful as he could to keep Wild's head above the water, despite the difficulty that added. And Legend could only breathe in this form when his gills were beneath the surface, so technically they were both mildly drowning.

Finally, the rapids started to ease, and the bank of the river came into view. He helped Wild towards the edge first, who gratefully climbed onto the bank. He then turned to help Legend out of the water.

He sighed, accepting the hand as Wild hauled him up onto dry land. As usual, he fought down the initial panic of not being able to breathe. Just as the panic started to set in, he felt the familiar ache of his tail turning back into legs. The bones grew and snapped and separated into two distinct shapes with a stomach-churning crunching sound, and after about a minute of silent writhing agony, he found himself gulping down oxygen from the air. He blinked a few times and met the eyes of a very concerned Wild.

"I'm fine." Legend reassured him as he experimentally flexed his ankles, making sure everything was in working order, ignoring the flare of pain the action sent up his legs.

"That looked painful."

"It is." Legend sighed as he leaned against a nearby rock. It was pleasantly warm against his back. "Please don't tell the others. Nobody knows but you."

"I know how to keep a secret." Wild smiled. Legend had little doubt that Wild knew how to keep secrets. He seemed to hold nearly as many as Time.

The others would be worried sick, after that stunt they both pulled. He was not looking forward to the lecture they were sure to get.

"The others will probably follow the river to find us." Legend spoke up. "We should probably just stay here. I won't be able to walk for a couple of hours anyways."

"Are you hurt?"

"No, but the transformation isn't pleasant. Imagine walking with a fresh break on top of your leg waking up and that's about what it feels like. Possible in a pinch, but I'd really rather not."

Wild winced. "What're you going to tell the others, then?"

"I don't know. That I overdid it swimming against the rapids?" Legend shrugged. "The only person who could call me out on not technically being injured is Hyrule, and he wouldn't rat me out like that."

"That's fair." Wild nodded. "I also wanted to thank you."

"Huh?" Legend blinked, turning back to face Wild.

"For jumping in after me..." He sat back against the rock that Legend had propped himself up against, head tilted up towards the sun. "And for trusting me with your secret."

"You really think I'd let you die?" Legend scoffed. Wild shot him a smile before turning back to study the clouds.

"One of my first memories... the very start of my journey... began underwater."

Legend startled. Was... was Wild talking about his journey to Legend?! They all had realized that his journey was a touchy subject. He'd shy away from the topic or outright refuse to speak of it whenever possible. So... why was he...?

"A secret for a secret, right?" Wild turned towards Legend with a knowing glint in his eye. "See, my Hyrule has some pretty cool stuff. One of the Sheikah Shrines we've got can... heal a lot of damage." He turned to gaze at the deceitfully calm waters. "I was put into that shrine when I got hurt pretty badly, and it took all my memories as it healed me. I was in there for a long time."

Legend idly wondered if that injury was what gave him those scars. He wanted to ask, but the air felt... almost solid. He knew that speaking would break whatever spell had befallen the two, and Wild may never speak of this again.

"The way it works is by submerging the injured person in some kind of liquid. It isn't quite water, but it certainly feels like it. Thing is, for whatever reason, you can't drown in it. But you can't breathe, either."

Legend's eyes widened as he realized the implications of Wild's words. He was perpetually drowning for Hylia knows how long, and couldn't die.

"It... was utterly petrifying. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't die. I couldn't see or really move, and everything hurt, and the space was so small. I felt like I was buried in a coffin." Wild shuddered hard. "This is my first memory—fear."

Legend hesitated before carefully placing a hand on Wild's shoulder. For the first time, he didn't flinch outright. He twitched, but didn't flinch. He could practically feel something solidify between the two. A form of trust that Wild hadn't given anyone else yet. Legend felt unspeakably honored.

"My journey didn't start easy, either." The veteran spoke softly. If they were going to sit here and wait for the others, then it shouldn't be in silence. "It started with a dream..."

~~~

The atmosphere among the group was tense. Even Wind didn't utter a sound as they followed the river at a brisk pace, hoping that their brothers would be okay. Hyrule's mind was playing out worst-case scenarios one after another, and he kept clenching and unclenching his fist in anxiety.

He'd already taken out a few red potions as well as some magic potions in case he needed to heal something major. Time and Four were at the forefront of the group.

It was due to this tense silence that had befallen them that they were able to catch the faint sound of laughter up ahead. They shared looks and picked up the pace, many all but running through the foliage.

What they found was Wild and Legend sitting against a large boulder. Both were laughing hard as Legend was trying to tell him some kind of story. They were wet, but looked relatively unharmed. Hyrule felt something inside him relax and he finally felt able to breathe.

"Wild! Legend!" Hyrule ran ahead, having been among the first to spot them. The two turned to greet the group. "You're okay!"

"Hyrule! Guys!" Wild grinned. He was a little pale, but didn't look as shaken as Hyrule expected him to be. Perhaps because of the story Legend had been telling him.

"We were so worried!" Wind cried, swiping some tears from his eyes. "I'm sorry, Wild! I tried to catch you!"

"Hey, it's okay Wind. I'm fine. Legend's fine. It turned out okay, and I know you tried your best." Wild smiled.

"You could've followed the river towards us." Twilight huffed, relief evident in his expression and tone. "We weren't sure what we were going to find."

"That's my fault." Legend scowled. "I can't walk right now. My legs hurt like hell. Those rapids were strong."

"Let me have a look." Hyrule came over instantly, using his magic to get a feel for any damage done. Legend hissed lightly when he pressed against his shin, and Hyrule knew Legend had a high pain tolerance.

The fact that he couldn't contain the winces and small hisses as he assessed the damage was more than enough to tell him that Legend was honestly in pain. The thing was, he couldn't find more than some faint traces of strange magic. Had Legend used a spell?

"I'll be fine in a couple of hours." He insisted, and since Hyrule could find nothing physically wrong, he had to take him at his word.

"Well, there's no physical damage. I'm guessing this has happened before?" Hyrule looked at his mentor with a raised eyebrow.

"There's a reason I don't like swimming." Legend scowled.

"Well, we can't just sit here all day." Warriors tilted his head. "I can give you a ride?"

"With you?" Legend glared. "I think I'd rather crawl."

Wild perked up. "I can grab you something to ride?"

"Something... to ride?" Time raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah! Hold on a minute, I'll get you a mount!" Before anyone could question him, Wild was off. Everyone just stared at the empty spot for a long minute.

"If he's going to pull me with a leaf, I'm going to feed him Hyrule's cooking."

"Hey!" Hyrule protested. "I'm not that bad!"

"No, you're worse." Legend retorted.

"I'm back!" Wild shouted.

"Well that was fas—Wild what is that?!" Four jumped ten feet at the sight of Wild riding atop a bear of all things. While the beast looked irritated, it obeyed Wild's commands like a trained horse.

"A bear? I was going to find a deer, but he scared them all off, so I had to make do." Was... was Wild really trying to shrug this off?

"You had to make do..." Twilight stared incredulously.

"Wait. You mean you want me to ride that?" Legend stared at Wild. Hyrule was sure it wasn't the craziest thing Legend had done, but it ultimately came down to riding a bear vs piggyback with Warriors. The traveler knew exactly which option Legend would take once he realized that.

"It's fine. I'll ride with you." Wild insisted as he slid off the back of the beast. The bear looked like it had half a mind to take a chunk out of Wild, but the hero just turned and stared the bear straight in the eye, causing the bear to back down.

What was this kid made of? Hyrule spent plenty of time out in the wilderness, and though he had very little wildlife, he'd still run across a bear or two. They were never one to just submit.

Wild helped Legend to his feet, the injured hero clenching his teeth against the pain. Hyrule helped steady him on the other side as they slowly meandered towards the bear. It took nearly a minute to get him over to the bear, and Hyrule knew that they would be getting nowhere without a mount for Legend. He must've been in a lot more pain than he'd originally thought. He slipped his mentor a red potion just in case, making sure Legend knew it was there.

He opted to walk beside the bear as they traveled, Wild riding right behind Legend so he could steady him if he started to fall.

"I can't believe he's riding a bear." Warriors stated with a shake of his head.

"I can't believe Wild caught a bear." Sky agreed. "It's not gonna... eat us, is it?"

"Nah." Wild grinned, waving away the concern of the Chosen Hero. "I've tamed enough bears to know how to handle one. They're like Stalhorses! You've just gotta know how to calm them down."

"Stalhorses? Like a skeletal horse ridden by a Stalfos?!" Twilight balked as Time turned his eye towards Wild with an expression of upmost disbelief.

"Yep. I figured if they could ride them, then so could I!" Wild beamed.

"You're unbelievable." Warriors shook his head with a grin. "How'd you learn to tame a bear anyways?"

"It's like taming a wild horse but with claws."

"You have wild horses in your Hyrule?" Time asked.

"Yeah. The only way to get a horse is to catch one yourself." Wild explained. "I tried to tell you that in Twi's Hyrule, but I didn't know the signs for it."

"So that's why you own multiple horses!" Four realized.

"Yeah. What, you thought I bought them all?" Wild tilted his head.

"We honestly didn't know what to think. None of our Hyrules have wild horses." Twilight informed.

"Oh." Something dark flickered across Wild's face, but it was gone before he could identify it. "Well, if we ever land in my Hyrule, we'll have horses enough for everyone. And we'll need it—you can't really get anywhere without one."

"So your Hyrule is big? Like Twilight's?" Wind asked, speaking up for the first time since his apology.

"Yeah." Wild nodded. "Though horses can't make it everywhere. Lots of places require going off-trail."

"Look! You can see my forge from here!" Four called out, eyes shining red in the sunset.

"Finally! Let's get some food!! You up to cook, Wild?" Warriors laughed.

"Always!" Wild grinned.

Hyrule glanced back over at Wild and Legend. Something had happened. They were a lot more comfortable with each other than they had been before. And he couldn't remember ever hearing Legend laugh like he'd heard earlier. It made him both jealous and happy. Perhaps one day, he'd be able to get Legend to open up to him like that. But for now, knowing that they both had someone to confide in was enough.

He smiled as they entered the little home, sunset warming his back. The image of everyone settled around an actual kitchen as Wild cooked up a grand feast would be burned into his very soul. He would treasure this family that Hylia had given him until his final day.